Fifth storm in under a month bears down on Philippines

Fifth storm in under a month bears down on Philippines
by AFP Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) Nov 12, 2024

The Philippines issued fresh weather warnings on Tuesday as the fifth major storm in three weeks bore down on the archipelago, days after thousands were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Toraji.

Now a weakened tropical storm, Toraji blew out to sea overnight after causing relatively limited damage and no reported deaths.

But Tropical Storm Usagi is now just two days away from the coast of Luzon, the archipelago nation's largest and most populous island, and gaining strength, the national weather agency said.

The government said it had evacuated more than 32,000 people from vulnerable areas in the northern Philippines ahead of Toraji's Monday landfall, weeks after Severe Tropical Storm Trami, Typhoon Yinxing and Super Typhoon Kong-rey killed a combined 159 people.

Most of that tally came during Trami, which unleashed torrential rains that triggered deadly flash floods and landslides.

The government did not report substantial flooding caused by Toraji and has so far not called for evacuations ahead of Usagi's arrival.

"Areas in northern Luzon are at risk of heavy rainfall, severe wind, and, possibly, storm surge inundation from (Usagi) which may cause considerable impacts," the weather service said in a fresh bulletin, using a term for giant coastal waves.

Usagi has strengthened to 85 kilometres (53 miles) an hour and may start affecting the region late in the day and reach typhoon category by Wednesday, a day ahead of landfall, it added.

Coastal waters will be rough and "mariners of small seacraft... are advised not to venture out to sea under these conditions".

While the government reported no casualties from Toraji, it said around 15,000 people were still sheltering at mainly government-run evacuation centres.

Utility workers on Tuesday repaired damaged bridges, restored electricity and cleared roads blocked by landslides, fallen trees and power pylons, the civil defence office said.

The full extent of the damage to private homes was not immediately known, but 29 towns and cities were still without power even as ports reopened and young people in nearly 600 towns and cities began returning to class.

"A small number of people were preemptively evacuated but they have since returned home. Classes at the collegiate level have resumed," civil defence official Randy Nicolas of Ilocos Norte province on Luzon's South China Sea coast told AFP.

After Usagi, the weather service said Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently near the Northern Mariana Islands, may also threaten the Philippines next week.

Thousands flee as fourth typhoon in a month hits Philippines
Manila (AFP) Nov 11, 2024 - Thousands of people sought shelter and ports shut down in the Philippines on Monday, officials said, as the disaster-weary nation was struck by another typhoon -- the fourth in less than a month.

Typhoon Toraji hit near Dilasag town, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Manila, the national weather agency said.

"We're getting hit with strong winds and heavy rain. Some trees are being toppled and power has been cut since yesterday," Merwina Pableo, civil defence chief of Dinalungan town near Dilasag, told AFP.

Rescuers said around 7,000 people were moved from coastal areas as well as flood-prone and landslide-prone areas in Aurora and Isabela, the first two provinces to be struck before Toraji ploughed inland to the mountainous interior of the main island of Luzon.

In all, the government ordered 2,500 villages to be evacuated on Sunday, though the national disaster office does not have the total number of evacuees as of Monday.

In the landfall area of Dilasag, school teacher Glenn Balanag, 31, filmed the onslaught of the howling 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour winds, which violently shook coconut trees around his rural home.

"Big trees are falling and we heard the roofs of some houses were damaged. The rain is continuing and a river nearby is rising," he told AFP.

The national weather agency warned of severe winds and "intense to torrential" rainfall exceeding 200 millimetres (eight inches) across the north of the country, along with a "moderate to high risk of a storm surge" -- giant waves up to three metres (10 feet) high on the north coast.

Schools and government offices were shut in areas expected to be hit hardest by the latest typhoon.

Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports on or near the typhoon's path, according to a coast guard tally on Monday, with the weather service warning that "sea travel is risky for all types or tonnage of vessels".

"All mariners must remain in port or, if underway, seek shelter or safe harbour as soon as possible until winds and waves subside," it added.

- Powerful gusts -

Aurora and Isabela officials said the main impact appeared to be downed trees and power pylons that blocked major roads.

"I don't want to send people out yet to investigate. I do not want them to be caught out by powerful gusts," said Constante Foronda, Isabela's disaster response chief.

The typhoon was forecast to blow out to the South China Sea late Monday, the weather service said.

Aurora provincial disaster response chief Elson Egargue told AFP he pushed out crews to clear roads after Toraji left the province in early afternoon.

After Toraji, a tropical depression could also potentially strike the region as early as Thursday night, weather forecaster Veronica Torres told AFP.

Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, may also threaten the Philippines next week, she added.

Toraji came on the heels of three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people.

On Thursday, Typhoon Yinxing slammed into the country's north coast, damaging houses and buildings.

A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death in one incident.

Before that, Severe Tropical Storm Trami and Super Typhoon Kong-rey together left 158 people dead, the national disaster agency said, with most of that tally attributed to Trami.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.